I haven't seen any cars with the merino interior yet (aside from the one press car with Fiona Red), which is annoying because I ordered Full Ivory Merino for my M340i (build Jan) basically sight unseen

I've seen a couple posted here in the forum and can't help but get jealous. I'm not a fan of the vernasca leather in my g20, and absolutely love the merino leather in my g05. I just can't justify $5k (i suppose it's really only $3k with a 60% residual) and an extra 3-4 months build time for an individual option on a car i'll only have for 3 years just because BMW won't offer subsidized pricing and availability for the US market.

I've seen a couple posted here in the forum and can't help but get jealous. I'm not a fan of the vernasca leather in my g20, and absolutely love the merino leather in my g05. I just can't justify $5k (i suppose it's really only $3k with a 60% residual) and an extra 3-4 months build time for an individual option on a car i'll only have for 3 years just because BMW won't offer subsidized pricing and availability for the US market.

The build time for the merino is only extended if you get the Fjord Blue or the Black interior. All other colours can fit into any build slot.

Apparently if the individual option code starts with X, then it requires a special individual build slot. If it has any other code, e.g. 4 or V then it can be built in any slog like a normal car.

I wanted the blue and the individual open pore wood but was quoted June by BMW (instead of January with Ivory full merino and 'normal' open pore wood)

And that's irrespective of region? So in the US merino leather is not a "regular" option (i.e. you can't use the standard builder to add it), so it's at a special request.

I suppose the bigger issue is the pricing, since it's not subsidized in the 3 series for the US market as it is in other models that do offer it (i.e. 5 series)

Yes that's right, that rule applies for any region. HOWEVER, getting approval for Merino in a G20 in the US would require some element of approvals by BMW NA which could push it out your build slot. But that's not due to the option itself but the approval process dragging it out.

As you know, when the dealer builds a car right off the local-spec option list, they can just pop in the relevant codes against a car already in their allocation (provided it hasn't started production) and they could effectively have a car being made to your specification within a few weeks + shipping. But since you want a non-US spec option, that'll have to go via the BMW head office to get approval (which presumably isn't too quick) before they can add the option in - and I think only an administrative user can add non-local spec options to the car even after this approval has been granted. I think there's only one person in a dealer who has this access and it's a collaborative exercise with the head office to do. It really shouldn't be hard or slow but hey big business slowness is common in all industries .

So you just need to work with the dealer to get that approval and then afterwards those more 'regular' merino options are all yours ASAP (but for a pretty $$$$ price). My M340i order (Australian), was placed in mid-December and accepted for a Week 3 Jan 2020 build allocation per my request (calendar year is important in our part of the world for resale so i wanted one of the first 2020 slots) with Full Ivory Merino.

Yes that's right, that rule applies for any region. HOWEVER, getting approval for Merino in a G20 in the US would require some element of approvals by BMW NA which could push it out your build slot. But that's not due to the option itself but the approval process dragging it out.

As you know, when the dealer builds a car right off the local-spec option list, they can just pop in the relevant codes against a car already in their allocation (provided it hasn't started production) and they could effectively have a car being made to your specification within a few weeks + shipping. But since you want a non-US spec option, that'll have to go via the BMW head office to get approval (which presumably isn't too quick) before they can add the option in - and I think only an administrative user can add non-local spec options to the car even after this approval has been granted. I think there's only one person in a dealer who has this access and it's a collaborative exercise with the head office to do. It really shouldn't be hard or slow but hey big business slowness is common in all industries .

So you just need to work with the dealer to get that approval and then afterwards those more 'regular' merino options are all yours ASAP (but for a pretty $$$$ price). My M340i order (Australian), was placed in mid-December and accepted for a Week 3 Jan 2020 build allocation per my request (calendar year is important in our part of the world for resale so i wanted one of the first 2020 slots) with Full Ivory Merino.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully it's offered as a local option here at some point.

You'll have to let me know how the merino in the 3 series is and if it's worth it. I'm not too satisfied with the vernasca leather in it currently. I have merino in my X5 and I love it.

I hate both this year's, and its previous 'wanna-be' cousin's leather. My thought is that since the new 3 is the same size as previous 5s, they would lose a LOT of 5 sales if we could get a more 'civilized' leather in the 3.

I hate both this year's, and its previous 'wanna-be' cousin's leather. My thought is that since the new 3 is the same size as previous 5s, they would lose a LOT of 5 sales if we could get a more 'civilized' leather in the 3.

Sounds like you're right. Though I do wonder why it's not allowed only in North America? Seems other regions can order it.

Very nice. I was going to order the red merino but it was going to add too much time to my build (or so said the dealer). Something like an additional 2 months?

Not sure, I lucked out when I was gonna order and this one 2 weeks on ground had everything I wanted except driver assistance pro, and laser lights, but I got 6k off, 2.9% and no waiting time, so I jumped on it.

I hated waiting when I imported cars from Japan, I don't think I could handle the waiting for a build, plus shipping.

Not sure, I lucked out when I was gonna order and this one 2 weeks on ground had everything I wanted except driver assistance pro, and laser lights, but I got 6k off, 2.9% and no waiting time, so I jumped on it.

I hated waiting when I imported cars from Japan, I don't think I could handle the waiting for a build, plus shipping.

Yeah it was definitely a hard wait but I guess I got exactly every option I wanted (minus the merino leather).

This same question comes up every couple of months. BMWNA, who controls the US market, decided some time ago to differentiate the 3 and the 4 by making the 4 a more upscale model. The F32 4 had merino interior options. The F30 3 did not. Similarly, the G02 X4 has merino interior options, but the G01 X3 does not. And I expect that we'll see merino options when the new 4 is introduced in the US in a few months. It's just a BMWNA/US thing. Go figure . . .